Precise vehicle control is part of the foundation of modern precision farming. Autopilots for tractors, sprayers, combines, windrowers, and other farm vehicles, drive more accurately than any human can. Autopilots reduce operator fatigue and improve safety. They help farmers use chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides as efficiently as possible and save money and the environment. The wide variety of vehicles outfitted with farm autopilot systems, and the wide variety of tasks that those vehicles perform under autopilot control, are a blessing for the farmer, but a curse for the autopilot designer who must make systems that work with each vehicle.
Thousands of different tractors types exist, for example, along with hundreds of different types of steering sensors and dozens of different types of steering actuators. Almost always, two vehicles of different make and model have different performance characteristics, and sometimes even two vehicles of the same make and model perform quite differently, due to custom modifications, different vehicle tasks, component failures, installation errors, vehicle age and wear, or myriad other factors. Whatever the particular circumstances, an autopilot should be tuned for the particular job it is asked to do. Incorrectly set-up autopilots lead to operator frustration and deprive farmers of the maximum benefits of their equipment.
Conventional, manual methods for autopilot tuning are fraught with trouble. Operator error when attempting to follow calibration and tuning procedures is common. Modern farm vehicle autopilots have dozens of adjustable parameters. It is difficult, even for an expert, to look at a set of autopilot parameters and determine whether or not the autopilot is correctly configured for a given vehicle. Thus, many autopilot-guided farm vehicles do not perform as well as they could.
What are needed are farm vehicle autopilots that can be easily and accurately tuned for a wide variety of vehicles and that provide an indication to operators to let them know what level of performance may be expected when their vehicle is under autopilot control.